I S A I A H.

CHAP. L.

In this chapter, I. Those to whom God sends are
justly charged with bringing all the troubles they were in upon
themselves, by their own wilfulness and obstinacy, it being made to
appear that God was able and ready to help them if they had been
fit for deliverance, ver.
1-3. II. He by whom God sends produces his commission
(ver. 4), alleges his own
readiness to submit to all the services and sufferings he was
called to in the execution of it (ver. 5, 6), and assures himself that God,
who sent him, would stand by him and bear him out against all
opposition, ver. 7-9.
III. The message that is sent is life and death, good and evil, the
blessing and the curse, comfort to desponding saints and terror to
presuming sinners, ver. 10,
11. Now all this seems to have a double reference, 1. To
the unbelieving Jews in Babylon, who quarrelled with God for his
dealings with them, and to the prophet Isaiah, who, though dead
long before the captivity, yet, prophesying so plainly and fully of
it, saw fit to produce his credentials, to justify what he had
said. 2. To the unbelieving Jews in our Saviour's time, whose own
fault it was that they were rejected, Christ having preached much
to them, and suffered much from them, and being herein borne up by
a divine power. The "contents" of this chapter, in our Bibles, give
this sense of it, very concisely, thus:—"Christ shows that the
dereliction of the Jews is not to be imputed to him, by his ability
to save, by his obedience in that work, and by his confidence in
divine assistance." The prophet concludes with an exhortation to
trust in God and not in ourselves.

Expostulations with Israel. (b. c. 706.)

1 Thus saith the Lord, Where is the bill of your mother's
divorcement, whom I have put away? or which of my creditors is
it to whom I have sold you? Behold, for your iniquities have ye
sold yourselves, and for your transgressions is your mother put
away. 2 Wherefore, when I came, was there no man?
when I called, was there none to answer? Is my hand
shortened at all, that it cannot redeem? or have I no power to
deliver? behold, at my rebuke I dry up the sea, I make the rivers a
wilderness: their fish stinketh, because there is no water,
and dieth for thirst. 3 I clothe the heavens with blackness,
and I make sackcloth their covering.

Those who have professed to be the people
of God, and yet seem to be dealt severely with, are apt to complain
of God, and to lay the fault upon him, as if he had been hard with
them. But, in answer to their murmurings, we have here,

I. A challenge given them to prove, or
produce any evidence, that the quarrel began on God's side,
v. 1. They could not
say that he had done them any wrong or had acted arbitrarily. 1. He
had been a husband to them; and husbands were then allowed a power
to put away their wives upon any little disgust: if their wives
found not favour in their eyes, they made nothing of giving them a
bill of divorce, Deut. xxiv. 1;
Matt. xix. 7. But they could not say that God had dealt
so with them. It is true they were now separated from him, and had
abode many days without ephod, altar, or sacrifice; but whose fault
was that? They could not say that God had given their mother a bill
of divorce; let them produce it if they can, for a bill of divorce
was given into the hand of her that was divorced. 2. He had been a
father to them; and fathers had then a power to sell their children
for slaves to their creditors, in satisfaction for the debts they
were not otherwise able to pay. Now it is true the Jews were sold
to the Babylonians then, and afterwards to the Romans; but did God
sell them for payment of his debts? No, he was not indebted to any
of those to whom they were sold, or, if he had sold them, he did
not increase his wealth by their price, Ps. xliv. 12. When God chastens his children,
it is neither for his pleasure (Heb.
xii. 10) nor for his profit. All that are saved are
saved by a prerogative of grace, but those that perish are cut off
by an act of divine holiness and justice, not of absolute
sovereignty.

II. A charge exhibited against them,
showing them that they were themselves the authors of their own
ruin: "Behold, for your iniquities, for the pleasure of them
and the gratification of your own base lusts, you have sold
yourselves, for your iniquities you are sold; not as children
are sold by their parents, to pay their debts, but as malefactors
are sold by the judges, to punish them for their crimes. You sold
yourselves to work wickedness, and therefore God justly sold you
into the hands of your enemies, 2
Chron. xii. 5, 8. It is for your transgressions that
your mother is put away, for her whoredoms and adulteries," which
were always allowed to be a just cause of divorce. The Jews were
sent into Babylon for their idolatry, a sin which broke the
marriage covenant, and were at last rejected for crucifying the
Lord of glory; these were the iniquities for which they were sold
and put away.

III. The confirmation of this challenge and
this charge. 1. It is plain that it was owing to themselves that
they were cast off; for God came and offered them his favour,
offered them his helping hand, either to prevent their trouble or
to deliver them out of it, but they slighted him and all the
tenders of his grace. "Do you lay it upon me?" (says God); "tell
me, then, wherefore, when I came, was there no man to meet
me, when I called, was there none to answer me?" v. 2. God came to them by his
servants the prophets, demanding the fruits of his vineyard
(Matt. xxi. 34); he sent
them his messengers, rising up betimes and sending them
(Jer. xxxv. 15); he called
to them to leave their sins, and so prevent their own ruin: but
was there no man, or next to none, that had any regard to
the warnings which the prophets gave them, none that answered the
calls of God, or complied with the messages he sent them; and this
was it for which they were sold and put away. Because they
mocked the messengers of the Lord, therefore, God brought
upon them the king of the Chaldeans, 2 Chron. xxxvi. 16, 17. Last of all he
sent unto them his Son. He came to his own, but his
own received him not; he called them to himself, but there were
none that answered; he would have gathered Jerusalem's children
together, but they would not; they knew not, because they would not
know, the things that belonged to their peace, nor the day of their
visitation, and for that transgression it was that they were put
away and their house was left desolate, Matt. xxi. 41; xxiii. 37, 38; Luke
xix. 41, 42. When God calls men to happiness, and they
will not answer, they are justly left to be miserable. 2. It is
plain that it was not owing to a want of power in God, for he is
almighty, and could have recovered them from so great a death; nor
was it owing to a want of power in Christ, for he is able to
save to the uttermost. The unbelieving Jews in Babylon thought
they were not delivered because their God was not able to deliver
them; and those in Christ's time were ready to ask, in scorn,
Can this man save us? For himself he cannot save.
"But" (says God) "is my hand shortened at all, or is it
weakened?" Can any limits be set to Omnipotence? Cannot he redeem
who is the great Redeemer? Has he no power to deliver whose
all power is? To put to silence, and for ever to put to shame,
their doubts concerning his power, he here gives unquestionable
proofs of it. (1.) He can, when he pleases, dry up the seas,
and make the rivers a wilderness. He did so for Israel when he
redeemed them out of Egypt, and he can do so again for their
redemption out of Babylon. It is done at his rebuke, as
easily as with a word's speaking. He can so dry up the rivers as to
leave the fish to die for want of water, and to putrefy. When God
turned the waters of Egypt into blood he slew the
fish, Ps. cv. 29. The
expression our Saviour sometimes used concerning the power of
faith, that it will remove mountains and plant sycamores in the
sea, is not unlike this; if their faith could do that, no doubt
their faith would save them, and therefore they were inexcusable if
they perished in unbelief. (2.) He can, when he pleases, eclipse
the lights of heaven, clothe them with blackness, and make
sackcloth their covering (v. 3) by thick and dark clouds
interposing, which he balances, Job xxxvi. 32; xxxvii. 16.

Work and Sufferings of the
Messiah. (b. c. 706.)

4 The Lord God
hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to
speak a word in season to him that is weary: he wakeneth
morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned.
5 The Lord God hath opened
mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back.
6 I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that
plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting.
7 For the Lord God will help
me; therefore shall I not be confounded: therefore have I set my
face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed. 8
He is near that justifieth me; who will contend with me? let
us stand together: who is mine adversary? let him come near
to me. 9 Behold, the Lord God
will help me; who is he that shall condemn me? lo,
they all shall wax old as a garment; the moth shall eat them
up.

Our Lord Jesus, having proved himself able
to save, here shows himself as willing as he is
able. We suppose the prophet
Isaiah to say something of himself in these verses, engaging and
encouraging himself to go on in his work as a prophet,
notwithstanding the many hardships he met with, not doubting but
that God would stand by him and strengthen him; but, like David, he
speaks of himself as a type of Christ, who is here prophesied of
and promised to be the Saviour.

I. As an acceptable preacher. Isaiah, a a
prophet, was qualified for the work to which he was called, so were
the rest of God's prophets, and others whom he employed as his
messengers; but Christ was anointed with the Spirit above his
fellows. To make the man of God perfect, he has, 1. The tongue
of the learned, to know how to give instruction, how to
speak a word in season to him that is weary, v. 4. God, who made man's mouth, gave
Moses the tongue of the learned, to speak for the terror and
conviction of Pharaoh, Exod. iv. 11,
12. He gave to Christ the tongue of the learned, to
speak a word in season for the comfort of those that are weary and
heavily laden under the burden of sin, Matt. xi. 28. Grace was poured into his
lips, and they are said to drop sweet-smelling myrrh.
See what is the best learning of a minister, to know how to comfort
troubled consciences, and to speak pertinently, properly, and
plainly, to the various cases of poor souls. An ability to do this
is God's gift, and it is one of the best gifts, which we should
covet earnestly. Let us repose ourselves in the many comfortable
words which Christ has spoken to the weary. 2. The ear of the
learned, to receive instruction. Prophets have as much need of this
as of the tongue of the learned; for they must deliver what they
are taught and no other, must hear the word from God's mouth
diligently and attentively, that they may speak it exactly,
Ezek. iii. 17. Christ
himself received that he might give. None must undertake to be
teachers who have not first been learners. Christ's apostles were
first disciples, scribes instructed unto the kingdom of
heaven, Matt. xiii. 52.
Nor is it enough to hear, but we must hear as the learned,
hear and understand, hear and remember, hear as those that would
learn by what we hear. Those that would hear as the learned must be
awake, and wakeful; for we are naturally drowsy and sleepy, and
unapt to hear at all, or we hear by the halves, hear and do not
heed. Our ears need to be wakened; we need to have something said
to rouse us, to awaken us out of our spiritual slumbers, that we
may hear as for our lives. We need to be awakened morning by
morning, as duly as the day returns, to be awakened to do the
work of the day in its day. Our case calls for continual fresh
supplies of divine grace, to free us from the dulness we contract
daily. The morning, when our spirits are most lively, is a proper
time for communion with God; then we are in the best frame both to
speak to him (my voice shalt thou hear in the morning) and
to hear from him. The people came early in the morning to
hear Christ in the temple (Luke xxi.
38), for, it seems, his were morning lectures. And it is
God that wakens us morning by morning. If we do any thing to
purpose in his service, it is he who, as our Master, calls us up;
and we should doze perpetually if he did not waken us morning by
morning.

II. As a patient sufferer, v. 5, 6. One would think
that he who was commissioned and qualified to speak comfort to the
weary should meet with no difficulty in his work, but universal
acceptance. It is however quite otherwise; he has both hard work to
do and hard usage to undergo; and here he tells us with what
undaunted constancy he went through with it. We have no reason to
question but that the prophet Isaiah went on resolutely in the work
to which God had called him, though we read not of his undergoing
any such hardships as are here supposed; but we are sure that the
prediction was abundantly verified in Jesus Christ: and here we
have, 1. His patient obedience in his doing work. "The Lord God has
not only wakened my ear to hear what he says, but has opened my ear
to receive it, and comply with it" (Ps. xl. 6, 7, My ear hast thou opened;
then said I, Lo, I come); for when he adds, I was not
rebellious, neither turned away back, more is implied than
expressed—that he was willing, that though he foresaw a great deal
of difficulty and discouragement, though he was to take pains and
give constant attendance as a servant, though he was to empty
himself of that which was very great and humble himself to that
which was very mean, yet he did not fly off, did not fail, nor was
discouraged. He continued very free and forward to his work even
when he came to the hardest part of it. Note, As a good
understanding in the truths of God, so a good will to the work and
service of God, is from the grace of God. 2. His obedient patience
in his suffering work. I call it obedient patience because he was
patient with an eye to his Father's will, thus pleading with
himself, This commandment have I received of my Father, and
thus submitting to God, Not as I will, but as thou wilt. In
this submission he resigned himself, (1.) To be scourged: I gave
my back to the smiters; and that not only by submitting to the
indignity when he was smitten, but by permitting it (or admitting
it rather) among the other instances of pain and shame which he
would voluntarily undergo for us. (2.) To be buffeted: I gave my
cheeks to those that not only smote them, but plucked off
the hair of the beard, which was a greater degree both of pain
and of ignominy. (3.) To be spit upon: I hid not my face from
shame and spitting. He could have hidden his face from it,
could have avoided it, but he would not, because he was made a
reproach of men, and thus he would answer to the type of Job, that
man of sorrows, of whom it is said that they smote him on the
cheek reproachfully (Job xvi.
10), which was an expression not only of contempt, but
of abhorrence and indignation. All this Christ underwent for us,
and voluntarily, to convince us of his willingness to save us.

III. As a courageous champion, v. 7-9. The Redeemer is as
famous for his boldness as for his humility and patience, and,
though he yields, yet he is more than a conqueror. Observe, 1. The
dependence he has upon God. What was the prophet Isaiah's support
was the support of Christ himself (v. 7): The Lord God will help
me; and again, v.
9. Those whom God employs he will assist, and will take
care they want not any help that they or their work call for. God,
having laid help upon his Son for us, gave help to him, and his
hand was all along with the man of his right hand. Nor will
he only assist him in his work, but accept of him (v. 8): He is near that
justifieth. Isaiah, no doubt, was falsely accused and loaded
with reproach and calumny, as other prophets were; but he despised
the reproach, knowing that God would roll it away and bring forth
his righteousness as the light, perhaps in this world (Ps. xxxvii. 6), at furthest in the
great day, when there will be a resurrection of names as well as
bodies, and the righteous shall shine forth as the morning sun. And
so it was verified in Christ; by his resurrection he was proved to
be not the man that he was represented, not a blasphemer, not a
deceiver, not an enemy to Cæsar. The judge that condemned him owned
he found no fault in him; the centurion, or sheriff, that had
charge of his execution, declared him a righteous man: so near was
he that justified him. But it was true of him in a further and more
peculiar sense: the Father justified him when he accepted the
satisfaction he made for the sin of man, and constituted him the
Lord our righteousness, who was made sin for us. He was
justified in the Spirit, 1 Tim.
iii. 16. He was near who did it; for his resurrection,
by which he was justified, soon followed his condemnation and
crucifixion. He was straightway glorified, John xiii. 32. 2. The confidence he
thereupon has of success in his undertaking: "If God will help me,
if he will justify me, will stand by me and bear me out, I shall
not be confounded, as those are that come short of the end they
aimed at and the satisfaction they promised themselves: I know
that I shall not be ashamed." Though his enemies did all they
could to put him to shame, yet he kept his ground, he kept his
countenance, and was not ashamed of the work he had undertaken.
Note, Work for God is work that we should not be ashamed of; and
hope in God is hope that we shall not be ashamed of. Those that
trust in God for help shall not be disappointed; they know whom
they have trusted, and therefore know they shall not be ashamed. 3.
The defiance which in this confidence he bids to all opposers and
opposition: "God will help me, and therefore have I set my face
like a flint." The prophet did so; he was bold in reproving
sin, in warning sinners (Ezek. iii.
8, 9), and in asserting the truth of his predictions.
Christ did so; he went on in his work, as Mediator, with unshaken
constancy and undaunted resolution; he did not fail nor was
discouraged; and here he challenges all his opposers, (1.) To enter
the lists with him: Who will contend with me, either in law
or by the sword? Let us stand together as combatants, or as
the plaintiff and defendant. Who is my adversary? Who is
the master of my cause? so the word is, "Who will pretend to
enter an action against me? Let him appear, and come near to
me, for I will not abscond." Many offered to dispute with
Christ, but he put them to silence. The prophet speaks this in the
name of all faithful ministers; those who keep close to the pure
word of God, in delivering their message, need not fear
contradiction; the scriptures will bear them out, whoever contends
with them. Great is the truth and will prevail. Christ
speaks this in the name of all believers, speaks it as their
champion. Who dares be an enemy to those whom he is a friend to, or
contend with those for whom he is an advocate? Thus St. Paul
applies it (Rom. viii. 33):
Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? (2.)
He challenges them to prove any crime upon him (v. 9): Who is he that shall condemn
me? The prophet perhaps was condemned to die; Christ we are
sure was; and yet both could say, Who is he that shall
condemn? For there is no condemnation to those whom God
justifies. There were those that did condemn them, but what became
of them? They all shall wax old as a garment. The righteous
cause of Christ and his prophets shall outlive all opposition. The
moth shall eat them up silently and insensibly; a little
thing will serve to destroy them. But the roaring lion himself
shall not prevail against God's witnesses. All believers are
enabled to make this challenge, Who is he that shall condemn? It
is Christ that died.

The Disconsolate Encouraged. (b. c. 706.)

10 Who is among you that feareth the
Lord, that obeyeth the voice of his
servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? let
him trust in the name of the Lord,
and stay upon his God. 11 Behold, all ye that kindle a fire,
that compass yourselves about with sparks: walk in the light
of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have kindled. This
shall ye have of mine hand; ye shall lie down in sorrow.

The prophet, having the tongue of the
learned given him, that he might give to every one his portion,
here makes use of it, rightly dividing the word of truth. It is the
summary of the gospel. He that believes shall be saved (he
that trusts in the name of the Lord shall be comforted, though for
a while he walk in darkness and have no light), but he that
believes not shall be damned; though for a while he walk in the
light of his own fire, yet he shall lie down in sorrow.

I. Comfort is here spoken to disconsolate
saints, and they are encouraged to trust in God's grace, v. 10. Here observe, 1. What
is always the character of a child of God. He is one that fears the
Lord with a filial fear, that stands in awe of his majesty and is
afraid of incurring his displeasure. This is a grace that usually
appears most in good people when they walk in darkness, when other
graces appear not. They then tremble at his word (ch. lxvi. 2) and are afraid
of his judgments, Ps. cxix.
120. He is one that obeys the voice of God's servant, is
willing to be ruled by the Lord Jesus, as God's servant in the
great work of man's redemption, one that yields a sincere obedience
to the law of Christ and cheerfully comes up to the terms of his
covenant. Those that truly fear God will obey the voice of Christ.
2. What is sometimes the case of a child of God. It is supposed
that though he has in his heart the fear of God, and faith in
Christ, yet for a time he walks in darkness and has no light, is
disquieted and has little or no comfort. Who is there that does so?
This intimates that it is a case which sometimes happens among the
professors of religion, yet not very often; but, whenever it
happens, God takes notice of it. It is no new thing for the
children and heirs of light sometimes to walk in darkness, and for
a time not to have any glimpse or gleam of light. This is not meant
so much of the comforts of this life (those that fear God, when
they have ever so great an abundance of them, do not walk in them
as their light) as of their spiritual comforts, which relate to
their souls. They walk in darkness when their evidences for heaven
are clouded, their joy in God is interrupted, the testimony of the
Spirit is suspended, and the light of God's countenance is
eclipsed. Pensive Christians are apt to be melancholy, and those
who fear always are apt to fear too much. 3. What is likely to be
an effectual cure in this sad case. He that is thus in the dark,
(1.) Let him trust in the name of the Lord, in the goodness
of his nature, and that which he has made known of himself, his
wisdom, power, and goodness. The name of the Lord is a strong
tower, let his run into that. Let him depend upon it that if he
walk before God, which a man may do though he walk in the dark, he
shall find God all-sufficient to him. (2.) Let him stay himself
upon his God, his in covenant; let him keep hold of his
covenant-relation to God, and call God his God, as Christ on
the cross, My God, My God. Let him stay himself upon the
promises of the covenant, and build his hopes on them. When a child
of God is ready to sink he will find enough in God to stay himself
upon. Let him trust in Christ, for God's name is in him
(Exod. xxiii. 21), trust in
that name of his, The Lord our righteousness, and stay
himself upon God as his God, in and through a Mediator.

II. Conviction is here spoken to presuming
sinners, and they are warned not to trust in themselves, v. 11. Observe, 1. The
description given of them. They kindle a fire, and walk
in the light of that fire. They depend upon their own
righteousness, offer all their sacrifices, and burn all their
incense, with that fire (as Nadab and Abihu) and not with the fire
from heaven. In their hope of acceptance with God they have no
regard to the righteousness of Christ. They refresh and please
themselves with a conceit of their own merit and sufficiency, and
warm themselves with that. It is both light and heat to them. They
compass themselves about with sparks of their own kindling.
As they trust in their own righteousness, and not in the
righteousness of Christ, so they place their happiness in their
worldly possessions and enjoyments, and not in the favour of God.
Creature-comforts are as sparks, short-lived and soon gone; yet the
children of this world, while they last, warm themselves by them,
and walk with pride and pleasure in the light of them. 2. The doom
passed upon them. They are ironically told to walk in the light
of their own fire. "Make your best of it, while it lasts. But
what will be in the end thereof, what will it come to at last? This
shall you have of my hand (says Christ, for to him the judgment is
committed), you shall lie down in sorrow, shall go to bed in
the dark." See Job xviii. 5,
6. His candle shall be put out with him. Those
that make the world their comfort, and their own righteousness
their confidence, will certainly meet with a fatal disappointment,
which will be bitterness in the end. A godly man's way may be
melancholy, but his end shall be peace and everlasting light. A
wicked man's way may be pleasant, but his end and endless abode
will be utter darkness.